Chapter 0022: Betting with Your Life

Bang!

Ning Fan took a blow to the stomach and flew backwards through the air.

With his Spirit Servant active, Chen Wu moved at a terrifying speed.

Unlike Qiao Fei, Chen Wu's Spirit Servant worked by harnessing the wind to amplify his movement.

In his own boastful words: catch the right tailwind, and he was unbeatable.

Ning Fan had barely hit the ground when a gust swept past him — and then a leather boot came down hard on his head.

The force was immense, driving half of Ning Fan's face into the mud.

"Hey! Qiao Fei, who's this kid? Lin Chuan's secret son or something?"

Chen Wu had the upper hand, and he was feeling smug about it. He called over to Qiao Fei, who was barely holding her own against three opponents: "Who's the mother? Don't tell me it's you?"

"Screw you! Your rotten mouth is making me sick!"

Ning Fan pressed both palms against the ground and tried to push himself up.

Bang!

Chen Wu lifted his foot and slammed it back down.

Ning Fan's vision spun. The hard edge of the boot carved several gashes across his face.

"Listen, kid — I'm technically the same generation as Lin Chuan, so that makes me your elder. You shouldn't be talking to me like that."

Chen Wu frowned with mock disapproval. "How about this — call me Grandpa, and I'll let you go."

"Ning Fan! You better not dare!" Huizi's voice shot across from the other side, sharp with urgency.

"Relax! Do I look like that much of a pushover?!"

Ning Fan was seething. "Stop worrying about me! Use some of that energy you spend kicking me around! You've got plenty of nerve when it's just me — so what happened out here against real enemies?!"

Huizi froze for a moment, then broke into a grin.

"You little brat — trying to rile me up, are you?"

Even as he spoke, Huizi's silhouette flickered.

With half his face buried in the dirt, Ning Fan could still make out a bizarre sight.

Huizi's shadow had separated from his body.

In the split second one of the enemies lost focus, Huizi's shadow closed in on his.

"Aaargh!!"

The man let out a howl of agony.

His shadow had been pinned.

Just like how Huizi had controlled Cheng Bin before.

The difference was that last time Huizi had used a real dagger — this time, it was a shadow.

Huizi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and fixed his eyes on the remaining opponent. "Damn it! Two-on-one, and you've been pushing me around this whole time. Let's see how you do one-on-one!"

Chen Wu glanced over at the situation on his side.

It wasn't just Huizi — Qiao Fei was beginning to gain the upper hand as well.

The man who had taken Flower Dance's blow on Chen Wu's behalf had both arms nearly hacked to pieces.

"Can't cut through in one strike? Just keep cutting."

Qiao Fei's beautiful eyes were cold as frost. "Let's see how many hits you can take."

Though Qiao Fei had taken some injuries herself, she radiated a pressure that crushed the morale of the [Hunting Unit].

Chen Wu's brow locked into a deep furrow.

He couldn't understand it. These were just two stray dogs with nowhere left to run — how were they holding their own against his entire [Hunting Unit]?

As for the kid under his boot — he didn't even count him as a person.

"Useless trash! Looks like I have to handle this myself!"

Chen Wu's temper snapped.

He could not afford to lose this fight.

But just as he moved to act, he felt something clamp around his left shin — tight and unyielding.

"You—!"

He looked down. Ning Fan was still pinned beneath him — but both of his arms were locked around Chen Wu's leg in a death grip.

"Your opponent... is me."

One of Ning Fan's eyes had filled with blood from the stamping, but the corner of his mouth curled into a strange smile. "Little nephew."

Chen Wu blinked.

Then he worked it out.

He had once called Huizi "Dad."

Ning Fan called Huizi "Brother."

So calling him "little nephew"...

By the logic of seniority — it actually checked out.

"You're dead!"

Chen Wu's face twisted with fury. A short blade slid down from his sleeve, and he drove it straight at Ning Fan's throat.

But in that very instant, Ning Fan coiled his core, swung his legs up off the ground, and drove a kick straight into Chen Wu's chin.

At the same time, he released his grip. Chen Wu went flying.

"Ptuh — ptuh — ptuh—!"

Ning Fan pushed himself upright, spitting out mouthfuls of bloody mud.

Huizi caught the commotion out of the corner of his eye and felt a spark of surprise and admiration.

"Kid! Not bad at all!"

He had to admit — that sequence of moves from Ning Fan had been clean. Textbook counterattack technique.

And the fact that he'd actually knocked Chen Wu down — that, neither Huizi nor Qiao Fei had expected.

"Perfect score across all nine. You really thought I was joking?"

Ning Fan wiped the blood from his face. His vision was going blurry.

The bloodshot eye was getting worse.

"Not bad."

Qiao Fei spared a moment to say so.

She could see it clearly — Ning Fan had goaded Chen Wu on purpose.

It had worked in large part because Chen Wu hadn't taken Ning Fan seriously at all. He'd thought killing him would be easier than wringing a chicken's neck, so when he'd brought the dagger down, he hadn't even activated his Spirit Servant.

Without Spirit Servants in play, Ning Fan wasn't at as much of a disadvantage.

"Damn it!"

Chen Wu shook his head and climbed to his feet.

The kick hadn't done much physical damage — but the humiliation was off the charts.

He'd been kicked down by a nobody with no Spirit Servant. If word got out, not just him — the entire [Hunting Unit] would become a laughingstock.

Ning Fan picked up his broken sword again, and crooked a finger at Chen Wu with a smirk full of provocation.

"Come on, little nephew."

Something had shifted in Ning Fan since taking those hits. The fight seemed to have ignited something deep in his blood.

He couldn't quite explain it himself — why he felt not a trace of nervousness, but something closer to excitement.

Chen Wu, already burning with rage, saw Ning Fan crooke that finger at him — and the urge to kill surged.

Short blade in hand, he activated his Spirit Servant. Riding the wind, he crossed the distance in what seemed like a single motion and was standing right in front of Ning Fan.

Ning Fan simply shut the bloodshot eye so it wouldn't cloud his sight.

Cold light flashed.

Ning Fan saw it.

"Die!"

Chen Wu's roar reached his ears.

Dodging was out of the question — there was no time.

But Ning Fan had never intended to dodge.

Broken sword in hand, he thrust straight toward the incoming flash of light.

Thud.

Thud.

A tearing pain erupted from Ning Fan's shoulder.

Chen Wu's blade had buried itself completely into his shoulder — only the handle remained visible outside.

The searing agony lit every nerve in his body on fire — and yet Ning Fan smiled, deeply satisfied.

Because his broken sword had pierced Chen Wu's arm.

He hadn't tried to dodge. He had gone for an exchange — life for life.

More precisely, he had made a bet.

A bet that Chen Wu wouldn't trade his life for his.

And he'd been right. The moment Chen Wu realized what Ning Fan intended, he'd flinched — tried to avoid the broken sword — and that instinct had changed the trajectory of his own strike.

The blade that had been aimed for Ning Fan's heart had missed.

"You little bastard! You—!"

Chen Wu's arm screamed with pain, and the bloodlust in his eyes deepened.

He could not stand being made to look this pathetic by a stray pup like this.

Just as he reached to yank the dagger free, he noticed that Ning Fan was smiling.

A smile that came from somewhere genuine.

Ning Fan looked at him, eyes growing brighter by the second.

"Thank you."

Chen Wu assumed the kid had lost his mind.

But Ning Fan's smile only deepened. "Thank you for finally letting me feel my Spirit Servant."

Qiao Fei and Huizi both turned to look.

In an instant, the expressions on their faces changed completely.

"That — what is that...?"

Even Qiao Fei — a woman who wore frost on her face for years — couldn't hold back a startled gasp.

Ning Fan bared his white teeth in a wide grin.

"Spirit Servant: Jian Wuchou."